Optical Illusions: Hololens, Pepper’s Ghost, First Valentine

Jan 24, 2015

Photo credit: Betsy Ptak

It’s been quite the week for optical illusions in our family!

First of all, two days ago Microsoft launched its ultra top secret product – Hololens. My daughter, a software engineer at MS, said she has been working on this project for more than two years! OMG, people, it is a world-changer!

Because of Hololens, I learned about Pepper’s Ghost! So that’s how Scottie beamed up the crew at the StarTrek feature at Disneyland! It’s nagged me for decades!

My precious daughter was determined to see the project through to completion. And she just made it!! (Her birthing due date is about now!) With my grandson and Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I wanted to create a love note for both of them. And I have.

While I was researching ideas, I came across the image above posted by Asha in Oregon – a perfect marriage of optical illusion and Valentine. Asha provided the following directions:

It’s cheap, creative, and so easy to do:

Take a photo of your kid holding his hand out while making a fist.

(If you like, add text and graphics with PicMonkey; Betsy says Costco or Walgreen’s will also print words on top of a picture.)

Print as many copies as you need.

Cut a small slit at the top and bottom of the hand and slide in a lollipop.